The times when you need a fire and the times when you have things to start a fire easily don’t necessarily coincide. For those instances, when your survival depends on you keeping warm, you have to get creative with what you can find. These six methods use some unusual tools to turn dry tinder into a toasty campfire.

Simply floating in water might look easy, but it’s actually pretty difficult if you don’t have a flotation device, and treading water is an essential safety skill for anyone who plans on spending time on or near the water, well, ever. Here’s the best way to do it for as long as possible in an emergency situation.

Davy Crockett is an American folk hero of mythic proportions, and was greatly popularized during the 50s and 60s thanks to Disney’s TV miniseries and major motion pictures. But Crockett was a very real person in history, and he had a lot of wisdom to share.

The sun is high, the days are long, and the weather is hot—which means it’s a great time to get outdoors and see some beautiful natural spaces. Whether it’s a huge national park or just a green space closer to home, here are some channels that’ll inspire you to get out and explore.

It’s always good to be prepared when you’re trekking out into the wilderness, but survival gear can take up all of your space that’s better served for tasty things like sandwiches. This custom five-in-one survival watch has you covered.

If you're a backcountry researcher, you require a very special blend of items in your bag. Such is the case with CoolTools reader Heron, who spends around five days out in the Washington backcountry every week doing research work.

With luck, you'll never find yourself alone, far from civilization, faced with the task of ensuring your own survival. If you do, this 1950s training video from the US Navy has some valuable tips and tricks to help you find safe food and water, build shelter, and take care of yourself.

CPR will save someone’s life in a matter of seconds. Tilt your head back and look at the clouds to stop a nosebleed. If an animal spots you in the woods it will chase you relentlessly and maul you. Movies are great at telling stories, but they’re horrible at teaching basic survival skills. Here are five of the ways…

With luck, you'll never need to know how to catch a fish without tools, but if the time comes where you're hungry and confronted with a stream full of fish without means to catch them, this trick might help. It's not impossible to catch a fish with your bare hands—it's just a little tricky, and Wired has a great guide…

So you're lost in the wilderness, and you don't have anything on you except your trusty cellphone. Weblog the Art of Manliness shows us everything you can make with its guts, including a compass to help you find your way home.

If you're camping and forgot the stove, need another cooking surface and don't want to build a fire, or (more likely) just want to show off a cool camping trick and cook a meal at the same time, go outside, take a saw with you, and grab a log. That's all you'll need for this simple, handmade stove, brought to you by…

Fire pistons are no secret to avid campers and survival enthusiasts, but you don't have to be the outdoorsy type to build one of your own. All you need is a few dollars worth of spare parts and some time. Here's how.